Quota: Keep noise down for your hearing health

The Kirksville Quota Club is going loud with its message of hearing safety and wellness by urging youth to “Crank it down” when in dangerously loud situations.

Members of the local Quota Club and students from Truman State’s Communication Disorders Department presented tips on how to stay safe in a loud world to about 600 elementary students at Ray Miller Elementary Wednesday morning as part of the club’s Quota Cares Month.

“We have to protect our ears just like we protect the rest of our body,” urged Dr. Janet Gooch, Quota member and dean of the School of Health Sciences and Education at Truman State University.

Gooch and Truman State students Rachel Patterman and Julie Bangert spoke to three groups of elementary students Wednesday, sharing information about the ear’s anatomy, its structure and how to deal with loud-noise situations like hunting, mowing or sporting events.

“At this age, they’re just starting to use iPods, get into hunting or four-wheel riding, all things that will expose them to loud noises,” Gooch said.

Those situations, listening to loud music, gunshots or engine noise, can all be addressed by either turning the volume down, getting out of the area or by wearing earplugs or noise-reducing ear muffs, the two Truman students told the youth.

“Gun shots are so loud we need to protect our ears at all times,” Patterman instructed the students.

And for the youth, attention to loud noises and hearing safety today can prevent having to deal with difficulty hearing later in life.

“If you have a hearing loss, it’s like having your hands over your ears all the time,” Patterman said.

The students will be taking part in a Quota poster competition through March 20 and the club plans on displaying the posters throughout the area in a dual effort to get youth involved but also have them serve as ambassadors for their parents and rest of the community’s adults and youth alike.

“I liken hearing issues to skin cancer,” Gooch said. “We tell people to not lay out in the sun too long or tan too much but at this age, they think they’re invincible. They think they’ll never get old so it helps to spread this information early on.”

Quota Cares Month is an opportunity for club members to address specific hearing and speech problems in particular for women and children in their individual communities.